April 26, 2007
Focus: Time for Reflection
Dear Friend,
I have just returned from Easter Break and a wonderful time to be with friends, reading, reflecting, praying, and enjoying each other’s company. What a joy it was to “have it all!” Perhaps one of the most enriching of the experiences was the daily mediation I did each morning and evening for a half hour. Meditation, reflection, Centering Prayer, contemplation – call it what you will – has a way of doing that. The wonderful thing about this activity is that you don’t have to even leave home or have a day off to accomplish it.
The following are some words a friend recently shared with me about the joy of her reflection.
After a full day out in the world, stories, words, images, and songs from any number of sources continue to play in our heads hours after we encounter them. Even as we lie in bed, in the quiet dark, our minds continue noisily processing all the input from our day. This can leave us feeling unsettled and harassed. It also makes it difficult to take in any new information or inspiration. Like a cluttered house that needs to be cleared if it is to have room for movement and new life, our minds need clearing if they are to be open to new information, ideas, and inspiration.
Too often, the activities we choose to help us relax only add to the clutter. Watching television, seeing a movie, reading a book, or talking to a friend all involve taking in more information. In order to really clear our minds, we need a break from mental stimulation. Activities like yoga, dancing, or taking a long walk help to draw our attention to our bodies, slowing our mental activity enough that our minds begin to settle. Deep breathing is an even simpler way to draw attention away from our mental activities. Once we are mentally relaxed, we can begin the process of clearing our minds. Most of us instinctively know what allows our minds to relax and release any unnecessary clutter. It may be meditation or time spent staring at the stars. Whatever it is, these exercises feel like a cool, cleansing bath for the brain and leave our minds feeling clear and open.
Setting aside time to clear our minds once a day creates a ritual that becomes second nature over time. Our minds will begin to settle with less effort the more we practice. Ultimately, the practice of clearing our minds allows us to be increasingly more open so that we can perceive the world as the fresh offering it is, free of yesterday's mental clutter.
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Weekly THIS AND THAT for April 29, 2007: More Elderly, Fewer Babies
This and That:
More Elderly, Fewer Babies
The latest population projections point to a big increase in the number of elderly people in the coming decades. Last month the United Nations Population Division published the “World Population Prospects: The 2006 Revision.” It forecasts a world population of 9.2 billion by 2050, up from the current 6.7 billion. The increase will come from the less developed countries, whose population is projected to rise from 5.4 billion in 2007 to 7.9 billion in 2050.
In the economically developed nations, the report expects the population to remain largely unchanged at 1.2 billion. In fact, it would decline if it were not for immigration. The United Nations calculates that there will be a net migration from developing to developed countries of around 2.3 million people annually. In all countries, however, by 2050 the average age will be significantly higher. No less than half of the increase between 2005 and 2050 is expected to come from a rise in the population 60 and over. By contrast, the number of those under 15 will decline slightly. Aging will be particularly marked in the developed regions, where the population 60 and over is expected to nearly increase from 245 million to 406 million. That’s a 66% increase! The 2006 Revision also forecasts that fertility will continue to decline in developing countries. The study projects a drop from 2.75 children per woman in 2005-2010 to 2.05 in 2045-2050. The projected population level for 2050 could, however, prove to be too high.
Only a few years ago, population concerns were centered on what was supposed to be the threat due to a boom in births. The exaggerated fears of a population boom led to many abuses, such as forced sterilizations and abortions. Now, however, the 2006 Revision states that the world population is in the midst of an “unprecedented transformation” due to a change from a situation of high mortality and high fertility to one of low mortality and low fertility. By 2045, the number of persons in the world aged 60 and over is set to surpass, for the first time in history, the number of those under 15.
By 2050 the continued aging of the population means that all developed countries are expected to have median ages higher than 40 years. Meanwhile, the populations in Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean will be undergoing a more rapid aging than the developed regions, due to the fertility reductions imposed as a result of family planning programs.
This will bring with it a big reduction in the working population and paying taxes to support those who are retired. The support ratio – the ratio of persons aged 15 to 64 over the sum of the number of children and of persons aged 65 or over – is expected to begin declining after 2010 in Europe, Northern America and Oceania, after 2015 in Asia and after 2025 in Latin America and the Caribbean. By 2050, Europe is expected to have the lowest support ratio, at 1.4 persons of working age for every dependant. Other regions are expected to have support ratios ranging from 1.6 in Northern America to 1.9 in Africa.
The financial challenges caused by an aging population are receiving growing attention. On March 13, 2007 the London Financial Times published an article on the problems faced by Singapore. Singapore, with its successful economy, should be well placed to handle a growing number of elderly. It has also avoided setting up a costly welfare system. Nevertheless, by 2030 Singapore is expected to have a quarter of its population comprised of persons above 65 years of age. With many of the older workers in low-paying jobs, and the prospect of only 2.2 workers to support each elderly person, compared with 10 workers in 2000, a growing income gap between rich and poor is forecast.
On April 5, 2006, Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, addressed a session of the U.N.’s Commission on Population and Development of the Economic and Social Council. Radical population policies in past years have caused serious problems due to falling birthrates. “If the development of the world’s peoples is to be both sustainable and sane, such flawed policies will have to be replaced by truly people-centered ones,” he argued. This is a challenge, indeed, for a rapidly aging world.
More Elderly, Fewer Babies
The latest population projections point to a big increase in the number of elderly people in the coming decades. Last month the United Nations Population Division published the “World Population Prospects: The 2006 Revision.” It forecasts a world population of 9.2 billion by 2050, up from the current 6.7 billion. The increase will come from the less developed countries, whose population is projected to rise from 5.4 billion in 2007 to 7.9 billion in 2050.
In the economically developed nations, the report expects the population to remain largely unchanged at 1.2 billion. In fact, it would decline if it were not for immigration. The United Nations calculates that there will be a net migration from developing to developed countries of around 2.3 million people annually. In all countries, however, by 2050 the average age will be significantly higher. No less than half of the increase between 2005 and 2050 is expected to come from a rise in the population 60 and over. By contrast, the number of those under 15 will decline slightly. Aging will be particularly marked in the developed regions, where the population 60 and over is expected to nearly increase from 245 million to 406 million. That’s a 66% increase! The 2006 Revision also forecasts that fertility will continue to decline in developing countries. The study projects a drop from 2.75 children per woman in 2005-2010 to 2.05 in 2045-2050. The projected population level for 2050 could, however, prove to be too high.
Only a few years ago, population concerns were centered on what was supposed to be the threat due to a boom in births. The exaggerated fears of a population boom led to many abuses, such as forced sterilizations and abortions. Now, however, the 2006 Revision states that the world population is in the midst of an “unprecedented transformation” due to a change from a situation of high mortality and high fertility to one of low mortality and low fertility. By 2045, the number of persons in the world aged 60 and over is set to surpass, for the first time in history, the number of those under 15.
By 2050 the continued aging of the population means that all developed countries are expected to have median ages higher than 40 years. Meanwhile, the populations in Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean will be undergoing a more rapid aging than the developed regions, due to the fertility reductions imposed as a result of family planning programs.
This will bring with it a big reduction in the working population and paying taxes to support those who are retired. The support ratio – the ratio of persons aged 15 to 64 over the sum of the number of children and of persons aged 65 or over – is expected to begin declining after 2010 in Europe, Northern America and Oceania, after 2015 in Asia and after 2025 in Latin America and the Caribbean. By 2050, Europe is expected to have the lowest support ratio, at 1.4 persons of working age for every dependant. Other regions are expected to have support ratios ranging from 1.6 in Northern America to 1.9 in Africa.
The financial challenges caused by an aging population are receiving growing attention. On March 13, 2007 the London Financial Times published an article on the problems faced by Singapore. Singapore, with its successful economy, should be well placed to handle a growing number of elderly. It has also avoided setting up a costly welfare system. Nevertheless, by 2030 Singapore is expected to have a quarter of its population comprised of persons above 65 years of age. With many of the older workers in low-paying jobs, and the prospect of only 2.2 workers to support each elderly person, compared with 10 workers in 2000, a growing income gap between rich and poor is forecast.
On April 5, 2006, Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, addressed a session of the U.N.’s Commission on Population and Development of the Economic and Social Council. Radical population policies in past years have caused serious problems due to falling birthrates. “If the development of the world’s peoples is to be both sustainable and sane, such flawed policies will have to be replaced by truly people-centered ones,” he argued. This is a challenge, indeed, for a rapidly aging world.
Weekly HOMILY for April 29, 2007: Marriage: Created and Creating As God
Marriage of Greg and Emily Herwig
College of Notre Dame
(B-1, D-4, and F-5)
April 28, 2007
Marriage: Created and Creating As God
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
Note: Since this was Deacon Preaching Sunday, Father Nick did not preach at his Masses. The following is a wedding homily he gave on Saturday at the wedding of Greg and Emily Herwig at the chapel of the College of Notre Dame in Baltimore City.
The Gilgamesh Epic
Biblical scholars tell us that at a certain time in history the Jewish People began to ask themselves, “How did we come to be? How were we created?”
In trying to find an answer to that question, two things were foremost in their minds: (1) How good God had been to them in creating them and (2) How God had chosen them from among all other people to be his very own.
God’s goodness and God’s choosing them – those two ideas filled their minds and hearts.
In trying to answer how it was that God created them, they looked around at the pagan religions of their neighbors and found an old Sumerian story called the Gilgamesh Epic.
The Gilgamesh Epic spoke of a cool and luxurious garden in which God had created a man and a woman from the earth.
Using this story as a base, they embellished it and it became the wonderful story of the creation of Adam and Eve that we find in the Book of Genesis.
God’s Creating
This scriptural background helps us understand better the first reading from Genesis that Greg and Emily have chosen for their marriage.
How beautifully it expresses God’s goodness – their sense of being blessed.
The passage tells us that God was primarily interested in creating something like himself and then empowering that creation with similar attributes.
We read that after God accomplishes this act of creation, he sits back and the writer of Genesis says, “God saw all he had made and indeed it was very good.”
Good, indeed! What a wonderful place to come from as you begin your lives together – the place of knowing that in creating each of you, God was very pleased with what he had done.
Created in God’s Image
The author of Genesis isn’t content simply to have God express his satisfaction over creating us. The writer goes into how God actually accomplished it.
There are three things that this “accomplishment” teaches us about marriage.
The FIRST is that we’re created in God’s image. Just as a hand in the mirror is an image of the real hand, so you both are God’s image.
And just how do husband and wife image God? As Christians, we believe, in God’s unity and diversity. We profess one God, yet three divine persons.
In the marriage bond, two separate individuals – complete with their very different personalities – can achieve a unity and oneness that is unparalleled in nature, a unity found only in the Godhead.
Husband and wife become one entity, a oneness that is expressed in a unity of shared feelings, a unity of life’s fulfillments, a unity of life’s disappointments.
Given Dominion
A SECOND thing that God’s creating man and woman teaches us about marriage has to do with being given dominion over all creation.
In being given dominion, God has not called you to dominate or violate nature, but to live in harmony with it.
Greg and Emily, you have the power to create jointly and to name the works of your hands, whether that creation is a home, a holiday dinner, love letters, relationships with friends, a child.
Know that you have been created partners and helpmates to one another and a woman is not a man’s shadow, nor his servant, but his other self.
In fact, the word “helpmate,” translated from the Hebrew, actually means “one who stands at the side of the other.”
God then, has created each of you as a partner and helpmate for the other, to lovingly rule over the works of your hands.
Remain at each other’s side; remain true companions and like any good companion, bring to your creating your very own unique gifts and talents.
Be Fruitful and Multiply
FINALLY, you’ve been called to be fruitful and multiply.
The children to be borne of your union will be proof itself that the Lord knows that it is not good for either man or woman to be alone.
Your very union then as husband and wife is of divine origin. It is a holy state in which you both can live a completeness not otherwise attainable alone.
That is important to remember Greg and Emily, when friends, possessions, careers, even your families or your children, seek to be first in our lives.
God saying, “Be fruitful and multiply” is divine testimony that no one or no thing, must ever come between your love for each other.
Conclusion
Greg and Emily, what we wish for you today on your wedding day is this sense of God’s goodness that has been bestowed upon you and has brought you to his altar today.
Let the reading from the Book of Genesis that you have chosen guide you on your common journey.
It is good that you have found each other.
Always remember that you have been (1) Created in God’s image, that you have been (2) Given dominion over creation and that your call is to (3) Be fruitful and multiply.
College of Notre Dame
(B-1, D-4, and F-5)
April 28, 2007
Marriage: Created and Creating As God
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
Note: Since this was Deacon Preaching Sunday, Father Nick did not preach at his Masses. The following is a wedding homily he gave on Saturday at the wedding of Greg and Emily Herwig at the chapel of the College of Notre Dame in Baltimore City.
The Gilgamesh Epic
Biblical scholars tell us that at a certain time in history the Jewish People began to ask themselves, “How did we come to be? How were we created?”
In trying to find an answer to that question, two things were foremost in their minds: (1) How good God had been to them in creating them and (2) How God had chosen them from among all other people to be his very own.
God’s goodness and God’s choosing them – those two ideas filled their minds and hearts.
In trying to answer how it was that God created them, they looked around at the pagan religions of their neighbors and found an old Sumerian story called the Gilgamesh Epic.
The Gilgamesh Epic spoke of a cool and luxurious garden in which God had created a man and a woman from the earth.
Using this story as a base, they embellished it and it became the wonderful story of the creation of Adam and Eve that we find in the Book of Genesis.
God’s Creating
This scriptural background helps us understand better the first reading from Genesis that Greg and Emily have chosen for their marriage.
How beautifully it expresses God’s goodness – their sense of being blessed.
The passage tells us that God was primarily interested in creating something like himself and then empowering that creation with similar attributes.
We read that after God accomplishes this act of creation, he sits back and the writer of Genesis says, “God saw all he had made and indeed it was very good.”
Good, indeed! What a wonderful place to come from as you begin your lives together – the place of knowing that in creating each of you, God was very pleased with what he had done.
Created in God’s Image
The author of Genesis isn’t content simply to have God express his satisfaction over creating us. The writer goes into how God actually accomplished it.
There are three things that this “accomplishment” teaches us about marriage.
The FIRST is that we’re created in God’s image. Just as a hand in the mirror is an image of the real hand, so you both are God’s image.
And just how do husband and wife image God? As Christians, we believe, in God’s unity and diversity. We profess one God, yet three divine persons.
In the marriage bond, two separate individuals – complete with their very different personalities – can achieve a unity and oneness that is unparalleled in nature, a unity found only in the Godhead.
Husband and wife become one entity, a oneness that is expressed in a unity of shared feelings, a unity of life’s fulfillments, a unity of life’s disappointments.
Given Dominion
A SECOND thing that God’s creating man and woman teaches us about marriage has to do with being given dominion over all creation.
In being given dominion, God has not called you to dominate or violate nature, but to live in harmony with it.
Greg and Emily, you have the power to create jointly and to name the works of your hands, whether that creation is a home, a holiday dinner, love letters, relationships with friends, a child.
Know that you have been created partners and helpmates to one another and a woman is not a man’s shadow, nor his servant, but his other self.
In fact, the word “helpmate,” translated from the Hebrew, actually means “one who stands at the side of the other.”
God then, has created each of you as a partner and helpmate for the other, to lovingly rule over the works of your hands.
Remain at each other’s side; remain true companions and like any good companion, bring to your creating your very own unique gifts and talents.
Be Fruitful and Multiply
FINALLY, you’ve been called to be fruitful and multiply.
The children to be borne of your union will be proof itself that the Lord knows that it is not good for either man or woman to be alone.
Your very union then as husband and wife is of divine origin. It is a holy state in which you both can live a completeness not otherwise attainable alone.
That is important to remember Greg and Emily, when friends, possessions, careers, even your families or your children, seek to be first in our lives.
God saying, “Be fruitful and multiply” is divine testimony that no one or no thing, must ever come between your love for each other.
Conclusion
Greg and Emily, what we wish for you today on your wedding day is this sense of God’s goodness that has been bestowed upon you and has brought you to his altar today.
Let the reading from the Book of Genesis that you have chosen guide you on your common journey.
It is good that you have found each other.
Always remember that you have been (1) Created in God’s image, that you have been (2) Given dominion over creation and that your call is to (3) Be fruitful and multiply.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Weekly MESSAGE for April 15: Time Spent Waiting
April 15, 2007
Focus: Time Spent Waiting
Dear Friend,
It could be argued that life is more about the time we spend waiting for something to happen than it is about something happening. What that boils down to is that the big events in our lives are preceded by many days and nights of dreaming, planning, organizing, and waiting. Yet it is the times of waiting in between the big events that actually constitute the majority of our lives. These “in-between times” are anything, but uneventful. In fact, they are rich with possibility and filled with opportunities for reflection and preparation, especially during these glorious seven weeks of Easter. Like a pregnant couple awaiting the birth of her child, we have a finite period of time in which to prepare internally and externally for the upcoming event that will define a new chapter in our lives.
When we find ourselves in an “in-between time,” we often can't help but feel impatient for the impending event. We just want to get to the future and have the new baby, the new job, the vacation, or a renewed, refreshed, or deepened connection with God. And yet, there is a reason a pregnancy takes nine months to fulfill itself. Nature provides the expectant parents with this time so that they can prepare the nest. This preparation plays out on many levels. Spatially, a space must be created in the home and resources must be set aside for the baby's future. Psychologically, a shift must occur in which the psyches of both parents agree to be responsible for a new life in the world. Emotionally, the heart must open wider to embrace and fulfill a new love.
Whenever you find yourself in such a time of waiting, you might want to spend time exploring your emotional, spiritual, psychological, and material readiness for the upcoming event or you may simply bask in the joy that is the waiting.
I’ll be on Easter Break next week enjoying time with friends and doing lots of reading. My next letter will be on Thursday, April 26, 2007.
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
Focus: Time Spent Waiting
Dear Friend,
It could be argued that life is more about the time we spend waiting for something to happen than it is about something happening. What that boils down to is that the big events in our lives are preceded by many days and nights of dreaming, planning, organizing, and waiting. Yet it is the times of waiting in between the big events that actually constitute the majority of our lives. These “in-between times” are anything, but uneventful. In fact, they are rich with possibility and filled with opportunities for reflection and preparation, especially during these glorious seven weeks of Easter. Like a pregnant couple awaiting the birth of her child, we have a finite period of time in which to prepare internally and externally for the upcoming event that will define a new chapter in our lives.
When we find ourselves in an “in-between time,” we often can't help but feel impatient for the impending event. We just want to get to the future and have the new baby, the new job, the vacation, or a renewed, refreshed, or deepened connection with God. And yet, there is a reason a pregnancy takes nine months to fulfill itself. Nature provides the expectant parents with this time so that they can prepare the nest. This preparation plays out on many levels. Spatially, a space must be created in the home and resources must be set aside for the baby's future. Psychologically, a shift must occur in which the psyches of both parents agree to be responsible for a new life in the world. Emotionally, the heart must open wider to embrace and fulfill a new love.
Whenever you find yourself in such a time of waiting, you might want to spend time exploring your emotional, spiritual, psychological, and material readiness for the upcoming event or you may simply bask in the joy that is the waiting.
I’ll be on Easter Break next week enjoying time with friends and doing lots of reading. My next letter will be on Thursday, April 26, 2007.
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
Weekly HOMILY for April 15, 2007: From Suffering to Empowerment
Second Sunday of Easter, Cycle C
Our Lady of Grace
April 15, 2007
From Suffering to Empowerment
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
Bill W: Suffering to Power
One day, back in the early 1900’s, a longtime alcoholic named Bill W. visited a home for recovering alcoholics in New York City.
On the orders of his doctor, he went into the room of a young man to show him the effects of drinking, but surprisingly, Bill W. found himself speaking to the young man with great passion.
He spoke of the dangers of drinking and of the human need for a Greater Power in your life.
As a result of this passionate sharing Bill W. found himself changed. He went on to found Alcoholics Anonymous which is based on this very same kind of sharing.
Something else Bill W. learned is that personal peace and empowerment are always connected to adversity and that his adversity is the very breeding ground for transformation.
What is takes to be transformed is: (1) First, to admit and own up to the suffering, struggle, and weakness in our lives. As we do that, (2) We are given the opportunity to reach out to a Greater Power – the Power of God. (3) Only then, do we experience the gifts that come from that God.
And those gifts are an inner peace or calm, and a personal power or empowerment for living our lives in a fulfilling and happy way.
Thomas: From Suffering to Empowerment
I suggest that we see this same experience or dynamic at work in today’s Gospel.
Thomas is feeling lost, disappointed and afraid. He is confused and doubting and searching.
What does Thomas want, when the other apostles say that they have seen the risen Jesus? He wants to see evidence of the suffering.
Thomas wants to see the wounds in Jesus’ hands and side. If he sees these, then he will know that it is Jesus and he will be able to believe.
The idea is that Jesus had submitted himself on the cross to the Father and Thomas will also be able to do the same thing. And this is exactly what happens.
Thomas sees Jesus’ wounds and this moves him to bring his sufferings and struggles, his doubts and questions to that Greater Power. We see this so clearly when he calls Jesus “My Lord and my God.”
And then, we have to imagine that the results for Thomas are the same as they are for others Apostles. He, like the others, must have experienced the peace that flows from Jesus and that Jesus even verbally imparts here.
And then Thomas must also have experienced the power or empowerment within himself. With the other apostles, he received the power of forgiveness and set out to bring God’s love and reconciliation to others.
You and I: From Suffering to Empowerment
So I would first ask you, where is your pain? Is it loneliness or worry? Is it uncertainty or doubt? Is it betrayal or another’s hostility?
Is it a struggle with sickness or some kind of compulsive behavior? Where are you in pain? Where do you struggle or suffering?
(1) We too need to own or admit this. And then (2) We need to reach out and submit ourselves to that Greater Power, as Bill W. says, in other words, to God. I recommend that we join Thomas in submitting to Jesus and saying, “My Lord and my God.”
If we do that, then (3) We will receive the gifts that flow from God. We will experience an inner peace right in the midst of our distress or struggle or pain.
And we will experience a power or empowerment for living: for reaching out to others even in loneliness, for persevering in pain, for managing our compulsive behavior – whatever the suffering or struggle may be.
Conclusion
Yes, what happened for Bill W. and for Thomas can happen for us.
It depends on only one thing – on our willingness – willingness to admit our need and to submit ourselves and our sufferings to God.
If we do that, then we allow God’s peace and power to flow into us and to change our lives.
Our Lady of Grace
April 15, 2007
From Suffering to Empowerment
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
Bill W: Suffering to Power
One day, back in the early 1900’s, a longtime alcoholic named Bill W. visited a home for recovering alcoholics in New York City.
On the orders of his doctor, he went into the room of a young man to show him the effects of drinking, but surprisingly, Bill W. found himself speaking to the young man with great passion.
He spoke of the dangers of drinking and of the human need for a Greater Power in your life.
As a result of this passionate sharing Bill W. found himself changed. He went on to found Alcoholics Anonymous which is based on this very same kind of sharing.
Something else Bill W. learned is that personal peace and empowerment are always connected to adversity and that his adversity is the very breeding ground for transformation.
What is takes to be transformed is: (1) First, to admit and own up to the suffering, struggle, and weakness in our lives. As we do that, (2) We are given the opportunity to reach out to a Greater Power – the Power of God. (3) Only then, do we experience the gifts that come from that God.
And those gifts are an inner peace or calm, and a personal power or empowerment for living our lives in a fulfilling and happy way.
Thomas: From Suffering to Empowerment
I suggest that we see this same experience or dynamic at work in today’s Gospel.
Thomas is feeling lost, disappointed and afraid. He is confused and doubting and searching.
What does Thomas want, when the other apostles say that they have seen the risen Jesus? He wants to see evidence of the suffering.
Thomas wants to see the wounds in Jesus’ hands and side. If he sees these, then he will know that it is Jesus and he will be able to believe.
The idea is that Jesus had submitted himself on the cross to the Father and Thomas will also be able to do the same thing. And this is exactly what happens.
Thomas sees Jesus’ wounds and this moves him to bring his sufferings and struggles, his doubts and questions to that Greater Power. We see this so clearly when he calls Jesus “My Lord and my God.”
And then, we have to imagine that the results for Thomas are the same as they are for others Apostles. He, like the others, must have experienced the peace that flows from Jesus and that Jesus even verbally imparts here.
And then Thomas must also have experienced the power or empowerment within himself. With the other apostles, he received the power of forgiveness and set out to bring God’s love and reconciliation to others.
You and I: From Suffering to Empowerment
So I would first ask you, where is your pain? Is it loneliness or worry? Is it uncertainty or doubt? Is it betrayal or another’s hostility?
Is it a struggle with sickness or some kind of compulsive behavior? Where are you in pain? Where do you struggle or suffering?
(1) We too need to own or admit this. And then (2) We need to reach out and submit ourselves to that Greater Power, as Bill W. says, in other words, to God. I recommend that we join Thomas in submitting to Jesus and saying, “My Lord and my God.”
If we do that, then (3) We will receive the gifts that flow from God. We will experience an inner peace right in the midst of our distress or struggle or pain.
And we will experience a power or empowerment for living: for reaching out to others even in loneliness, for persevering in pain, for managing our compulsive behavior – whatever the suffering or struggle may be.
Conclusion
Yes, what happened for Bill W. and for Thomas can happen for us.
It depends on only one thing – on our willingness – willingness to admit our need and to submit ourselves and our sufferings to God.
If we do that, then we allow God’s peace and power to flow into us and to change our lives.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Weekly MESSAGE for April 8, 2007: Dying and Rising in Christ
April 5, 2007
Focus: Dying and Rising in Christ
Dear Friend
Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed!
It is difficult to believe that Christ is risen if we haven’t experienced small dyings and risings in our own daily living. They may be simple ones like the joy of being forgiven by God for a past offense, the insight that the choices someone close to me makes need not put me in a frantic or anxious state because I come from a different “center,” or the daffodils, tulips and crocuses pressing up through the earth after a long cold winter of “death.”
Easter is a time for renewal and for replenishing our energy through our faith in life being stronger than death. Here’s a reflection for this marvelous feast.
Within each of us there is a well of energy that must be regularly replenished. When we act as if this well is bottomless, scheduling a long list of activities that fit like puzzle pieces into every minute of every day, it becomes depleted and we feel exhausted, disconnected, and weak.
Refilling this well is a matter of finding time to focus on, nurture, and care for ourselves, or simply to take some “you time.” Most of us are, at different times throughout the day, a spouse, a friend, a relative, an employee, a parent, or a volunteer, a parishioner which means that down time is not necessarily “you time.” Though some people will inevitably look upon “you time"” as being selfish, it is actually the polar opposite of selfishness. We can only excel when our own spiritual, physical, and intellectual needs are fulfilled.
Recognizing the importance of “you time” is far easier than finding a place for it in an active, multifaceted lifestyle, however. Even if you find a spot for it in your agenda, you may be dismayed to discover that your thoughts continuously stray into worldly territory. To make the most of “you time,” give yourself enough time on either side of the block of time you plan to spend on yourself to ensure that you do not feel rushed. Consider how you would like to pass the time, forgetting for the moment your obligations and embracing the notion of renewal. You may discover that you are energized by creative pursuits, meditation, praying the rosary, doing relaxing activities during which your mind can wander, modes of expression such as writing, or the slow reading of Sacred Scripture.
Even if you have achieved a functioning work-life balance, you may still be neglecting the most important part of that equation – namely, you. “You time” prepares you for the next round of daily life, whether you are poised to immerse yourself in a professional project or chores around the home. It also affords you a unique opportunity to learn about yourself, your needs, and your tolerances in a concrete way. As unimportant as “you time” can sometimes seem, it truly is crucial to your wellbeing because it ensures that you are never left without the energy to give of yourself.
This state of being is truly the hope and promise of Easter.
Happy Easter to you and your loved ones! Christ is risen and we are rising each day in him.
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
Focus: Dying and Rising in Christ
Dear Friend
Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed!
It is difficult to believe that Christ is risen if we haven’t experienced small dyings and risings in our own daily living. They may be simple ones like the joy of being forgiven by God for a past offense, the insight that the choices someone close to me makes need not put me in a frantic or anxious state because I come from a different “center,” or the daffodils, tulips and crocuses pressing up through the earth after a long cold winter of “death.”
Easter is a time for renewal and for replenishing our energy through our faith in life being stronger than death. Here’s a reflection for this marvelous feast.
Within each of us there is a well of energy that must be regularly replenished. When we act as if this well is bottomless, scheduling a long list of activities that fit like puzzle pieces into every minute of every day, it becomes depleted and we feel exhausted, disconnected, and weak.
Refilling this well is a matter of finding time to focus on, nurture, and care for ourselves, or simply to take some “you time.” Most of us are, at different times throughout the day, a spouse, a friend, a relative, an employee, a parent, or a volunteer, a parishioner which means that down time is not necessarily “you time.” Though some people will inevitably look upon “you time"” as being selfish, it is actually the polar opposite of selfishness. We can only excel when our own spiritual, physical, and intellectual needs are fulfilled.
Recognizing the importance of “you time” is far easier than finding a place for it in an active, multifaceted lifestyle, however. Even if you find a spot for it in your agenda, you may be dismayed to discover that your thoughts continuously stray into worldly territory. To make the most of “you time,” give yourself enough time on either side of the block of time you plan to spend on yourself to ensure that you do not feel rushed. Consider how you would like to pass the time, forgetting for the moment your obligations and embracing the notion of renewal. You may discover that you are energized by creative pursuits, meditation, praying the rosary, doing relaxing activities during which your mind can wander, modes of expression such as writing, or the slow reading of Sacred Scripture.
Even if you have achieved a functioning work-life balance, you may still be neglecting the most important part of that equation – namely, you. “You time” prepares you for the next round of daily life, whether you are poised to immerse yourself in a professional project or chores around the home. It also affords you a unique opportunity to learn about yourself, your needs, and your tolerances in a concrete way. As unimportant as “you time” can sometimes seem, it truly is crucial to your wellbeing because it ensures that you are never left without the energy to give of yourself.
This state of being is truly the hope and promise of Easter.
Happy Easter to you and your loved ones! Christ is risen and we are rising each day in him.
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
weekly MESSAGE for April 8, 2007: Dying and Rising from Material Possessions
This and That:
Easter Life: Dying and Rising from Material Possessions
For many years Ben Stein has written a biweekly column called “Monday Night At Morton’s.” (Morton’s is a famous chain of Steakhouses known to be frequented by movie stars and famous people from around the globe.) Now, Ben was terminating the column to move on to other things in his life. For me, it modeled a kind of “dying and rising” that Easter empowers us to do.
A blessed Easter to you and your loved ones.
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
As I begin to write this, I “slug” it, as we writers say, which means I put a heading on top of the document to identify it. This heading is “eonlineFINAL,” and it gives me a shiver to write it. I have been doing this column for so long that I cannot even recall when I started. I loved writing this column so much for so long I came to believe it would never end.
It worked well for a long time, but gradually, my changing as a person and the world’s change have overtaken it. On a small scale, Morton’s, while better than ever, no longer attracts as many stars as it used to. It still brings in the rich people in droves and definitely some stars. I saw Samuel L. Jackson there a few days ago, and we had a nice visit, and right before that, I saw and had a splendid talk with Warren Beatty in an elevator, in which we agreed that Splendor in the Grass was a super movie. But Morton’s is not the star galaxy it once was, though it probably will be again.
Beyond that, a bigger change has happened. I no longer think Hollywood stars are terribly important They are uniformly pleasant, friendly people, and they treat me better than I deserve to be treated. But a man or woman who makes a huge wage for memorizing lines and reciting them in front of a camera is no longer my idea of a shining star we should all look up to.
How can a man or woman who makes an eight-figure wage and lives in insane luxury really be a star in today’s world, if by a “star” we mean someone bright and powerful and attractive as a role model? Real stars are not riding around in the backs of limousines or in Porsches or getting trained in yoga or Pilates and eating only raw fruit while they have Vietnamese girls do their nails.
They can be interesting, nice people, but they are not heroes to me any longer. A real star is the soldier of the 4th Infantry Division who poked his head into a hole on a farm near Tikrit , Iraq He could have been met by a bomb or a hail of AK-47 bullets. Instead, he faced an abject Saddam Hussein and the gratitude of all of the decent people of the world.
A real star is the U.S. soldier who was sent to disarm a bomb next to a road north of Baghdad. He approached it, and the bomb went off and killed him. A real star, the kind who haunts my memory night and day, is the U.S. soldier in Baghdad who saw a little girl playing with a piece of unexploded ordnance on a street near where he was guarding a station. He pushed her aside and threw himself on it just as it exploded. He left a family desolate in California and a little girl alive in Baghdad.
The stars who deserve media attention are not the ones who have lavish weddings on TV but the ones who patrol the streets of Mosul even after two of their buddies were murdered and their bodies battered and stripped for the sin of trying to protect Iraqis from terrorists.
We put couples with incomes of $100 million a year on the covers of our magazines. The noncoms and officers who barely scrape by on military pay but stand on guard in Afghanistan and Iraq and on ships and in submarines and near the Arctic Circle are anonymous as they live and die.
I am no longer comfortable being a part of the system that has such poor values, and I do not want to perpetuate those values by pretending that who is eating at Morton's is a big subject.
There are plenty of other stars in the American firmament...the policemen and women who go off on patrol in South Central and have no idea if they will return alive; the orderlies and paramedics who bring in people who have been in terrible accidents and prepare them for surgery; the teachers and nurses who throw their whole spirits into caring for autistic children; the kind men and women who work in hospices and in cancer wards.
Think of each and every fireman who was running up the stairs at the World Trade Center as the towers began to collapse. Now you have my idea of a real hero.
I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters. This is my highest and best use as a human. I can put it another way. Years ago, I realized I could never be as great an actor as Olivier or as good a comic as Steve Martin, Martin Mull or Fred Willard – or as good an economist as Samuelson or Friedman or as good a writer as Fitzgerald. Or even remotely close to any of them.
But I could be a devoted father to my son, husband to my wife and, above all, a good son to the parents who had done so much for me. This came to be my main task in life. I did it moderately well with my son, pretty well with my wife and well indeed with my parents (with my sister's help). I cared for and paid attention to them in their declining years. I stayed with my father as he got sick, went into extremis and then into a coma and then entered immortality with my sister and me reading him the Psalms.
This was the only point at which my life touched the lives of the soldiers in Iraq or the firefighters in New York. I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters and that it is my duty, in return for the lavish life God has devolved upon me, to help others He has placed in my path. This is my highest and best use as a human.
Faith is not believing that God can. It is knowing that God will.
By Ben Stein
Easter Life: Dying and Rising from Material Possessions
For many years Ben Stein has written a biweekly column called “Monday Night At Morton’s.” (Morton’s is a famous chain of Steakhouses known to be frequented by movie stars and famous people from around the globe.) Now, Ben was terminating the column to move on to other things in his life. For me, it modeled a kind of “dying and rising” that Easter empowers us to do.
A blessed Easter to you and your loved ones.
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
As I begin to write this, I “slug” it, as we writers say, which means I put a heading on top of the document to identify it. This heading is “eonlineFINAL,” and it gives me a shiver to write it. I have been doing this column for so long that I cannot even recall when I started. I loved writing this column so much for so long I came to believe it would never end.
It worked well for a long time, but gradually, my changing as a person and the world’s change have overtaken it. On a small scale, Morton’s, while better than ever, no longer attracts as many stars as it used to. It still brings in the rich people in droves and definitely some stars. I saw Samuel L. Jackson there a few days ago, and we had a nice visit, and right before that, I saw and had a splendid talk with Warren Beatty in an elevator, in which we agreed that Splendor in the Grass was a super movie. But Morton’s is not the star galaxy it once was, though it probably will be again.
Beyond that, a bigger change has happened. I no longer think Hollywood stars are terribly important They are uniformly pleasant, friendly people, and they treat me better than I deserve to be treated. But a man or woman who makes a huge wage for memorizing lines and reciting them in front of a camera is no longer my idea of a shining star we should all look up to.
How can a man or woman who makes an eight-figure wage and lives in insane luxury really be a star in today’s world, if by a “star” we mean someone bright and powerful and attractive as a role model? Real stars are not riding around in the backs of limousines or in Porsches or getting trained in yoga or Pilates and eating only raw fruit while they have Vietnamese girls do their nails.
They can be interesting, nice people, but they are not heroes to me any longer. A real star is the soldier of the 4th Infantry Division who poked his head into a hole on a farm near Tikrit , Iraq He could have been met by a bomb or a hail of AK-47 bullets. Instead, he faced an abject Saddam Hussein and the gratitude of all of the decent people of the world.
A real star is the U.S. soldier who was sent to disarm a bomb next to a road north of Baghdad. He approached it, and the bomb went off and killed him. A real star, the kind who haunts my memory night and day, is the U.S. soldier in Baghdad who saw a little girl playing with a piece of unexploded ordnance on a street near where he was guarding a station. He pushed her aside and threw himself on it just as it exploded. He left a family desolate in California and a little girl alive in Baghdad.
The stars who deserve media attention are not the ones who have lavish weddings on TV but the ones who patrol the streets of Mosul even after two of their buddies were murdered and their bodies battered and stripped for the sin of trying to protect Iraqis from terrorists.
We put couples with incomes of $100 million a year on the covers of our magazines. The noncoms and officers who barely scrape by on military pay but stand on guard in Afghanistan and Iraq and on ships and in submarines and near the Arctic Circle are anonymous as they live and die.
I am no longer comfortable being a part of the system that has such poor values, and I do not want to perpetuate those values by pretending that who is eating at Morton's is a big subject.
There are plenty of other stars in the American firmament...the policemen and women who go off on patrol in South Central and have no idea if they will return alive; the orderlies and paramedics who bring in people who have been in terrible accidents and prepare them for surgery; the teachers and nurses who throw their whole spirits into caring for autistic children; the kind men and women who work in hospices and in cancer wards.
Think of each and every fireman who was running up the stairs at the World Trade Center as the towers began to collapse. Now you have my idea of a real hero.
I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters. This is my highest and best use as a human. I can put it another way. Years ago, I realized I could never be as great an actor as Olivier or as good a comic as Steve Martin, Martin Mull or Fred Willard – or as good an economist as Samuelson or Friedman or as good a writer as Fitzgerald. Or even remotely close to any of them.
But I could be a devoted father to my son, husband to my wife and, above all, a good son to the parents who had done so much for me. This came to be my main task in life. I did it moderately well with my son, pretty well with my wife and well indeed with my parents (with my sister's help). I cared for and paid attention to them in their declining years. I stayed with my father as he got sick, went into extremis and then into a coma and then entered immortality with my sister and me reading him the Psalms.
This was the only point at which my life touched the lives of the soldiers in Iraq or the firefighters in New York. I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters and that it is my duty, in return for the lavish life God has devolved upon me, to help others He has placed in my path. This is my highest and best use as a human.
Faith is not believing that God can. It is knowing that God will.
By Ben Stein
Weekly HOMILY for April 8, 2007: Why do you search for the Living One among the dead?
Easter Sunday, Cycle C
Our Lady of Grace
April 8, 2007
Why do you search for the living One among the dead?
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
The Two Angels at the Tomb of Jesus
“Why do you search for the living One among the dead?”
This morning, I think it is good for us to allow this question in today’s Gospel to be asked directly to ourselves. “Why do you or I search for the living One among the dead?”
Today is a day of great celebration for us Catholics and all Christians. We sing: “Christ is risen! Alleluia!”
But the truth of the matter is that many of us struggle with our faith in that very fact: Did Jesus really rise from the dead?
Will we really rise from the dead? Is there a resurrection, a life after death?
Messengers of Life and Messengers of God
I would submit that one reason for this struggle with faith is that we, in fact, “Looking for the living One among the dead” – to use the words of our Gospel passage.
Yes, we are quote, “among the dead” when cynicism holds us back from loving or when fear paralyzes us from really living. I believe we are “among the dead” when loneliness overcomes us or when prejudice blinds us to truth or goodness.
In being part of these experiences, we have, in effect, one foot in the grave. And it can be very difficult from that place we stand, to trust in a loving God or even believe in a risen Savior.
In the face of this, today’s Gospel tells us that some of Jesus’ friends find his tomb empty and they are bewildered and confused. And then the Gospel says, “While they were at a loss what to think of this, two men in dazzling garments appeared beside them.”
The two individuals are not identified, but our tradition sees them as messengers of God, as divine spokespersons, as angels. And these two messengers speak the key words: “Why are you looking for the living One among the dead?”
I would like to suggest that you and I, right from within our everyday lives, have similar messengers of God, similar divine spokespersons, similar angels.
Yes, we might very well have individuals who steer us away from “looking for the living One among the dead” and actually take us to the places and experiences where we can find “the living One.”
Angel of Trust
I would like to suggest that most of us have an angel of trust in our lives.
For example, a mother instinctively reassures her frightened little boy when he wakes up in the middle of the night. She says, “Everything’s going to be all right” as she holds him close.
Is she lying? Or naïve? Or is she expressing a profound truth about the ultimate goodness of life?
Is she not instinctively saying what Jesus himself believed as he commended his life to the Father on the cross? Today is the day to remember your angel of trust.
See if that divine messenger doesn’t also reassure you that everything’s going to be all right. And see if that assurance doesn’t lead you to say today with trust: “Christ is risen! Alleluia!”
Angel of Hope
I think that most of us also have an angel of hope in our lives.
We see this angel in someone refuses to get down in the dumps, no matter what. As a priest, I have seen this with people who are sick and even actively dying.
Yes, there are people who refuse to give in to their sadness and are able to see even their illness as leading to something greater, in some way to greater life.
Today try name the angel of hope in your life.
See if that divine messenger does not call forth the very best in you. And see if that leads you to say today with hope: “Christ is risen! Alleluia!”
Angel of Humor
Finally, I think most of us have an angel of humor in our lives.
I remember years ago leading the graveside prayers for my father’s funeral. My brother and I were grieving, but then I came to the words in the ritual about coming to the heavenly banquet.
Well, my father really, really enjoyed food, and I instinctively looked up from the funeral book and said something like “Dad must really be enjoying this whole thing now.” We all had a good laugh and even though I did not understand it then, I do now.
Our humor and laughter is a sign, a signal that death is not the last word and that life ultimately wins out. Today is the time to identify the angel of humor in your life.
See if that divine messenger does not draw you more fully into life. And see if that doesn’t help you to say with joy: “Christ is risen! Alleluia!”
Conclusion
So, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead?” A good question for us today as we answer it with, “Seek the living One among the living!”
Seek the living One in our experiences, in our divine messengers, in our angels of trust and hope and humor.
Only then will we be better able to take the risk of faith and to believe in the risen Christ and in our own future life with him.
Our Lady of Grace
April 8, 2007
Why do you search for the living One among the dead?
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
The Two Angels at the Tomb of Jesus
“Why do you search for the living One among the dead?”
This morning, I think it is good for us to allow this question in today’s Gospel to be asked directly to ourselves. “Why do you or I search for the living One among the dead?”
Today is a day of great celebration for us Catholics and all Christians. We sing: “Christ is risen! Alleluia!”
But the truth of the matter is that many of us struggle with our faith in that very fact: Did Jesus really rise from the dead?
Will we really rise from the dead? Is there a resurrection, a life after death?
Messengers of Life and Messengers of God
I would submit that one reason for this struggle with faith is that we, in fact, “Looking for the living One among the dead” – to use the words of our Gospel passage.
Yes, we are quote, “among the dead” when cynicism holds us back from loving or when fear paralyzes us from really living. I believe we are “among the dead” when loneliness overcomes us or when prejudice blinds us to truth or goodness.
In being part of these experiences, we have, in effect, one foot in the grave. And it can be very difficult from that place we stand, to trust in a loving God or even believe in a risen Savior.
In the face of this, today’s Gospel tells us that some of Jesus’ friends find his tomb empty and they are bewildered and confused. And then the Gospel says, “While they were at a loss what to think of this, two men in dazzling garments appeared beside them.”
The two individuals are not identified, but our tradition sees them as messengers of God, as divine spokespersons, as angels. And these two messengers speak the key words: “Why are you looking for the living One among the dead?”
I would like to suggest that you and I, right from within our everyday lives, have similar messengers of God, similar divine spokespersons, similar angels.
Yes, we might very well have individuals who steer us away from “looking for the living One among the dead” and actually take us to the places and experiences where we can find “the living One.”
Angel of Trust
I would like to suggest that most of us have an angel of trust in our lives.
For example, a mother instinctively reassures her frightened little boy when he wakes up in the middle of the night. She says, “Everything’s going to be all right” as she holds him close.
Is she lying? Or naïve? Or is she expressing a profound truth about the ultimate goodness of life?
Is she not instinctively saying what Jesus himself believed as he commended his life to the Father on the cross? Today is the day to remember your angel of trust.
See if that divine messenger doesn’t also reassure you that everything’s going to be all right. And see if that assurance doesn’t lead you to say today with trust: “Christ is risen! Alleluia!”
Angel of Hope
I think that most of us also have an angel of hope in our lives.
We see this angel in someone refuses to get down in the dumps, no matter what. As a priest, I have seen this with people who are sick and even actively dying.
Yes, there are people who refuse to give in to their sadness and are able to see even their illness as leading to something greater, in some way to greater life.
Today try name the angel of hope in your life.
See if that divine messenger does not call forth the very best in you. And see if that leads you to say today with hope: “Christ is risen! Alleluia!”
Angel of Humor
Finally, I think most of us have an angel of humor in our lives.
I remember years ago leading the graveside prayers for my father’s funeral. My brother and I were grieving, but then I came to the words in the ritual about coming to the heavenly banquet.
Well, my father really, really enjoyed food, and I instinctively looked up from the funeral book and said something like “Dad must really be enjoying this whole thing now.” We all had a good laugh and even though I did not understand it then, I do now.
Our humor and laughter is a sign, a signal that death is not the last word and that life ultimately wins out. Today is the time to identify the angel of humor in your life.
See if that divine messenger does not draw you more fully into life. And see if that doesn’t help you to say with joy: “Christ is risen! Alleluia!”
Conclusion
So, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead?” A good question for us today as we answer it with, “Seek the living One among the living!”
Seek the living One in our experiences, in our divine messengers, in our angels of trust and hope and humor.
Only then will we be better able to take the risk of faith and to believe in the risen Christ and in our own future life with him.
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